HERITΛGE Announces Small Grants for African Heritage Projects Supported by the Mellon Foundation

CHICAGO, July 4, 2024–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Heritage Management Organization (HERITΛGE) is pleased to announce 26 new recipients of its HerMaP Africa small grants for organizations, groups, and individuals working in the field of heritage in Africa. This small grants initiative is generously supported by the Mellon Foundation’s Humanities in Place program.

Under this second cycle of the program, more than $333,000 has been awarded to projects focused on protecting and promoting local cultural and natural heritage and aiming to contribute to the socio-economic development of local communities and beyond. HERITΛGE disbursed more than $220,000 to 19 heritage projects during the first cycle of the small grants initiative earlier this year. By the end of 2024, a total of $1 million will have been awarded in small grants to African heritage projects.

“We are extremely pleased to announce this second round of small grants for African projects. We are already seeing what this programme is doing to unlock the potential of heritage in Africa and make a difference to the development of local communities through the work undertaken by the first 19 grantees,” said HERITΛGE Director, Dr Evangelos Kyriakidis. “Heritage has the power to empower and we are already seeing local communities using our grants, in partnership with local organisations, to support sustainable development and safeguard local heritage for generations to come.”

The list of newly approved grants includes heritage projects from Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Niger, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zambia.

To receive a small grant from the HerMaP Africa programme, applicants must demonstrate that their project has a lasting impact, develops capacities, builds networks, strengthens local skills and has a strong and measurable impact on the protection of heritage and the benefit of local populations.

The full list of projects that received small grants is available here. Applications are still being accepted for the next round of small grants for heritage projects. To learn more and apply, visit our website: https://heritagemanagement.org/

About HerMaP-Afrique: Made possible by a $5 million grant from the Mellon FoundationHumanities in PlacAnd program, HerMaP Africa aims to strengthen HERITAGEAfrica programs fund initiatives that link heritage to socio-economic impact, develop the capacities of local organizations and help them preserve African heritage and culture.

About the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation: The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the largest philanthropist of the arts and humanities in the United States. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and the arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity and that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom that can be found there. Through its grantmaking, it seeks to build just communities, enriched with meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can flourish. For more information, visit mellon.org.

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Contacts

Maria Kagkelidou, HERITAGE Communications Manager [email protected]